"I enjoy representing Japan on the court and the fact that I am now included along with both current and past players in the game is really great."

"The Grand Slams are tournaments that every tennis professional wants to win and now through the game everyone will be able to put themselves on the court and experience the excitement and joy of playing as a pro."

Kei tried his hand on the game.

He chose to play his own character and played against Pete Sampras and Rafael Nadal.

The results?

Look at Kei's reaction here. He won without breaking a sweat!

Kei has the potential to beat those big guys in real tennis matches. But he has to recover completely from the current arm injury first.

Apr 29, 2009

From November 5 to 8, 2009, eight tennis legends will assemble at the Sichuan International Tennis Center for the Chengdu Open, Asia's only event on the 12-leg ATP Champions Tour circuit.

“Chengdu is part of an elite group of cities to host an ATP Champions Tour event and I am thrilled to say that the first five players we are announcing today are John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg, Michael Chang, Mats Wilander and Marcelo Rios,” Tournament Director Nick Freyer said.

The other three players will be announced soon.

The eight players will be divided into two groups for round-robin play, the top two players from the groups will meet in the final while the runners-up from each group will play-off for third and fourth place.

According to McEnroe, "I am extremely excited to be making my first trip to China in a very long time; this is a country that is fast becoming a major player in world tennis."

"I know that Chengdu and Sichuan Province is already famous as the home to the giant panda."

"It is a great honor for the city to host an ATP Champions Tour event. I understand the field of players is very strong and I am of course happy that my good friend Bjorn Borg will be returning to China. We always have such great matches; which are part of tennis history."

Bjorn Borg meanwhile is returning to China more than 30 years after he first played here.

"I am delighted to be returning to China, this time to the vibrant city of Chengdu, home of the famous giant panda and I really look forward to playing in the Chengdu Open," Borg said.

"It will be all the more special as my good friend John McEnroe will be joining us together with so many other Grand Slam champions."

"I look forward to playing well but also to enjoying the city and the company of the other Champions. Thank you for your vision in making this tournament possible and see you in November."

Of all the players, I believe Michael Chang will get the most attention here when they play in November.

"With the boom in tennis in China, I am happy that Chengdu has taken the bold step to host this tournament which will allow me to return to China to play official ATP tennis once more," the Taiwanese said.

"China has always held a special place in my heart."

"Since I retired from the ATP Tour, China has won medals in tennis at the Olympic Games, won titles at Wimbledon and the Australian Open and now hosts major ATP and WTA events in Beijing and Shanghai, so by hosting one of the 12 ATP Champions Tour tournaments, China now plays host to the full suite of professional tennis events."

"Although the field of players will be exceptionally strong, I will be ready to play my best and really look forward to a successful, enjoyable and high profile tournament in Chengdu."

In addition to the tennis action, the Chengdu Open will also stage clinics with many of the tournament stars to develop grassroots tennis.

After considering stepping down from tennis for months, Guillermo Coria announced his retirement from the professional tennis circuit at age 27 today.

“I didn’t feel like competing anymore,” Coria said in statements published on the Argentine Tennis Association’s website.

“I’ve made the decision I will not play again.”

“In 2005 I began to feel less and less like competing,” he said.

“My passion just wasn’t the same and it’s impossible to do things well when it’s like that. In this sport, you have to be at 100 percent,” added Coria, who is currently ranked 672.

“I’m very happy with the decision I’ve taken, since I have new projects and I will be able to spend more time with my family,” Coria said.

I'm not sure about you but it's heartbreaking for me to see him chosen this time of the year, during the Rome Masters tournament to announce his retirement.

I remembered so well the year 2005, when Coria gave such a remarkable and memorable performance at the Rome Masters final against Rafael Nadal. I sat through the entire match for an incredible 5 hours and 14 minutes! Nadal won the match 6–4, 3–6, 6–3, 4–6, 7–6(6) in the end.

Coria is also a finalist for Roland Garros in 2004 and formerly ranked third in the world.

The Taiwanese player is the only Asian player in the ATP top 100 (now ranked at no. 62) and he had won the Tashkent Challenger tournament last year. With more sponsorship, Rendy is able to go further up the ranking and improve in his tennis career.

According to the statistics by China Tennis Association (CTA), the number of people playing tennis in China has risen to 8.12 million since '04.

To capitalise on the growing number of tennis fans in China, and the fact that China has the largest and fastest growing number of internet users in the world, ATP launched its Chinese language web site yesterday.

CEO of the ATP International Group, Brad Drewett believed there is no other perfect time than now to launch the all new Chinese language ATP World Tour website www.ATPWorldTour.com.cn and reach out to wider audience.

Personally, I don't really like the font type and font colour used in the website. Too painful for my eyes. I still prefer to get my dose of tennis info from Sina.

Apr 27, 2009

David Nalbandian may need to go under the knife to treat his injured right hip, which according to his new coach Luis Lobo said has been a issue for the past 8 months!

Earlier last week, he withdrew from the Barcelona Open, complaining of hip pain.

His physician in Europe, Angel Cotorro, told the Argentine newspaper Clarin that Nalbandian would receive three or four days of treatment including physical therapy and medication before a decision is made on surgery.

However, questions has been raised in tennis forum as to why this injury has never been been reported or discussed before.

If Nalbandian has been suffering from the hip injury like 8 months ago, when exactly was that and during which tournament?

Now he could miss Argentina’s Davis Cup quarterfinal against the Czech Republic scheduled this July.

Hopefully he'll spend lots of time in rehabilitation and recover in time for the season ending hard court tournaments.(Image via menstennisforums.com)

Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray led an all-star cast of ATP World Tour players who played exhibition matches at the Rome Masters on last weekend to raise funds for FedeLux.

Fedelux is a leukemia foundation established in the memory of former player Federico Luzzi, who died of the disease last year aged 28 last year.

Tommy Robredo, Marat Safin, Potito Starace, Andreas Seppi, Simone Bolelli and Filippo Volandri also took part in the exhibition, which was attended by Luzzi’s parents Maurizio and Paola.

Most of the players wore shirts with an image of Luzzi.

Federer said, “It was a nice match for me to play, knowing that Federico is up above watching us, having his parents here.”

Djokovic said, “We played in his honour and for the foundation that his family has created to fight against leukemia. It was very emotional for all of us who knew him. He was a very positive guy and I always remember him with a smile on his face.”